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Oxfire Clan
}}The Oxfire Clan (Pandaren: Ni'huo Shao'din), also known as the Oxfire Shao'din or the Oxfire Family is a large family or shao'din of Pandaren that dates over 800 years, to the time of Liu Lang. Founded by Pandriarch Hsi of the Brazen Bull, the Oxfire Clan holds lands in all of the primary provinces of the Pandaren Empire save for the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, with each of these lands housing the descendants of one of Hsi's five sons. Currently, the clan is led by Brewmaster Hsi Oxfire and under him has aligned itself with the forces of the Grand Alliance. Additionally, the Oxfires notably share a pact of friendship with the Kingdom of Varland due to Hsi's service with the Kingdom during the Third War and the Alliance-Horde War. History Origins: Rise of the Pandriarch The origins of the Ni'huo Shao'din date back to approximately 800 years before the Dark Portal, to the time of other ancient heroes such as Liu Lang. It was at this time that the pandaren who would become Hsi of the Brazen Bull was born to a family of simple yak herders. These herders lived in the lands around the Kun-Lai Summit, though they would also commonly travel with their herds beyond the Serpent's Spine to the Townlong Steppes, where they would pay respects to the great ox, Niuzao, at the western temple. Hsi, however, was gripped with a sense of spirituality and wanderlust and thus, following his coming of age, decided to journey across the width and breadth of Pandaria. Though his travels are too many to fully recount, Hsi would eventually become a powerful shodo-pan of the Pandaren people. Later in his life, however, Hsi chose to settle down in the Jade Forest, founding a monastery he named the Nishan Monastery or Oxhill Monastery in Common. It was also at this time that he would marry the pandaren Sun Jadepaw, a wealthy heiress who's family held both farmland in the Valley of the Four Winds and fisheries in the depths of the Krasarang Wilds. Soon after this marriage would be born Shan and Zheng Oxfire, the first two of Hsi's five sons. Birth: The Five Sons Eventually, by the time of Hsi's old age, he would have sired many sons, consisting of the aforementioned Shan and Zheng, along with three more, known as Yu, Mao and Li. These sons had a great competitive nature among each other and due to this Hsi feared that his death would see them fight over who would inherit his lands and thus bring the family to ruin. In desperation, Hsi spoke with the Jinyu waterspeakers of Pearfin Village and was shown a vision of the solution. Instead of leaving all his lands to his eldest son, Hsi would instead split them among all five. Thus he chose to grant his monastery to Shan, his brewery to Zheng, his farms to Yu, his ranch and herds to Mao and finally his fisheries to Li. In addition, he decreed that the shao'din he had sired would not be ruled by a single shodo-pan and instead by a council of five, with a seat for each of his sons. So it was that Hsi passed into the spirit world, content that his inheritance and family was secure. Interlude: Oxfire Wanderers For the first few years following the passing of Hsi, the council of shodo-pans ruled the clan as intended. However, soon the second son, Zheng, became gripped with the same wanderlust that overtook his father in his younger years. Additionally, Zheng was not merely content to explore Pandaria alone, as by this time the tales of Liu Lang had spread throughout the land and many other pandaren had chosen to follow this new explorer. Thus, Zheng said goodbye to the rest of the Oxfires, left his brewery to his twin brother Shan and departed Pandaria on the Wandering Isle. In his memory, the remaining four brothers chose to leave his seat on the clan's council open and thus the rulers of the mainland Oxfires were reduced to four members. Centuries would pass since this event and while the mainland branch of the Oxfires continued to live in their respective holdings, the Wandering Isle branch explored the rest of the world, always longing for new areas of Azeroth to see. So it was that following the reconstruction of Stormwind City after the Second War that the descendants of Zheng, now numbering almost 1000 strong, arrived in the city, at the same time as a large convoy of supplies arrived from the distant continent of Vildskanor to assist the rebuilding efforts. Having never seen and barely ever heard of this strange continent, the leader of the Oxfire Wanderers, who was named Hsi in memory of the clan's great Pandriarch, decided to lead his clan to explore this new land and thus used the majority of what little funds they had to obtain passage for the entire shao'din upon the returning supply fleet. So it was, after a few weeks sailing, that the first pandaren would set foot on Vildskanor, at the Varlandic capital of Rosholm. However, while the Oxfires had expected to arrive in a time of peace, this idea was quickly shattered. Mere months previously, the previous king of Varland, Karolus XI, had died of a wasting sickness and since then the kingdom had suffered a decline and a number of other tragedies. Deciding to assist in what was clearly a coming storm, Brewmaster Hsi met with the new king, Karolus XII, and though the king refused his offer of fine brew, he granted Hsi a mercenary contract and thus the Brewmaster along with a number of others from the Oxfire Shao'din formed a free company in service to the Varlandic Army. Soon after they accepted this contract, the Sixth Northern War broke out and the Oxfires took the field alongside the Varlandic forces, participating in battles throughout the continent until the war was ended by the Scourge Invasion of Vildskanor. Yet even in the face of the undead swarms, the shao'din did not faulter and served valiantly until they were released from their contract following the end of the Third War. Following this, the Oxfire Wanderers set out to explore the rest of Vildskanor and aside from this it is unknown where they were in the decade between the Third War and the Alliance-Horde War. Reunification: Parting of the Mists Category:Pandaren Clans Category:Pandaren Organizations Category:Houses, Clans and Tribes Category:Grand Alliance